The high-level preparatory meeting for the 2026 United Nations Water Conference was opened by the President of the Republic of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Faye, with a call for increased investment. The urgent priority is to reverse the trend of thousands of people worldwide lacking access to safe drinking water and sanitation.

The High-Level Preparatory Meeting for the 2026 UN Water Conference is a key moment for advocacy. The cost-effectiveness of investing in the construction of drinking water production facilities generates ripple effects in several other areas.

"Investing in water means investing in a global public good; this calls for collective, equitable responses adapted to everyone's capabilities," said the President of the Republic.

The President of the Republic of Senegal, Bassirou Diomaye Diakhar Faye, who presided over the opening of the ceremony, established a link between investments in water and conflict prevention.

“Investing in water is not just about financing infrastructure, but also about investing in climate resilience, preventing tensions and conflicts, and promoting global stability and prosperity,” argued the head of state, who praised the quality of the partnership with the Emirati co-presidency, based on trust and a shared vision that places the issue of water at the heart of the international agenda for greater access to and peaceful management of water resources.

He demonstrated that water is at the confluence of several activities of active life and that it remains a lever of resilience in this context of climate change.

" Your presence in Dakar testifies to the political importance that the international community attaches to water and sanitation; not only as sectoral issues, but also as essential foundations of human dignity, the health of populations, the stability of societies and the shared prosperity of nations," said the President of the Republic during this preparatory meeting organized with the United Arab Emirates.

While the resource is essential for Man and nature, indispensable for maintaining the balance of the planet, it must be admitted that the water crisis is a global reality.

In his speech, the President of the Republic, citing the United Nations, stated that 2.2 billion people still do not have access to safe drinking water; nearly 3.5 billion remain without adequate sanitation services; and nearly 4 billion people suffer from severe water shortages for at least one month a year.

The situation in the cradle of humanity is far more worrying. In Africa, 40% of the population lacks access to safe drinking water and more than 70% lacks basic sanitation services. " This is a morally unacceptable situation, and as long as it persists, our collective responsibility will remain engaged, because water crises fuel food crises, weaken economies, displace populations, and exacerbate tensions," noted the President of the Republic.

The cost of inaction

To reverse this trend, massive investments are needed. Especially since the cost of inaction is immense, to use the President's words. "Faced with this increasing precariousness of life, the cost of inaction is immense . It is measured in human lives lost, in compromised development opportunities, in aggravated social divisions, and sometimes in threatened peace," the head of the highest court suggested.